Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Ethiopia (Ratification: 1999)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application and application in practice. The Committee previously noted that although section 89(2) of the Labour Law Proclamation No. 42 of 1993 prohibits the employment of persons under 14 years of age, the provisions of the Labour Law did not cover work performed outside an employment relationship.

The Committee notes the Government’s reference in its report to the Constitution that provides for Ethiopian children without any discrimination, whether employed or self-employed, working in the formal or informal sector, the right to be protected from any forms of exploitative labour. The Government also indicates that a labour inspection manual has been prepared in the local working language and incorporates guidelines for inspectors on how to detect and protect children from child labour both in the formal and informal sectors.

The Committee notes that with the technical assistance of the ILO, the 2015 Child Labour Survey was published in 2018. According to the Child Labour Survey results, the number of children aged 5–13 engaged in child labour is estimated to be 13,139,991 (page 63). The Committee also notes that most of the working children (89.4 per cent) are engaged in the agricultural, forestry and fishing sectors, with a higher participation of the youngest children. The rural areas account for 93 per cent of working children in this sector while the urban areas account for 39.6 per cent. The wholesale and retail trade is the second most important sector where children are involved in work. The majority of children performing economic activities were working as unpaid family workers (95.6 per cent) (page xii). The Committee notes with concern the high number of working children in the informal economy. It reminds the Government that the Convention applies to all sectors of economic activity and covers all forms of employment and work, whether or not there is a contractual employment relationship, including own-account work. The Committee therefore requests that the Government take the necessary measures to ensure that all children under 14 years of age, particularly children working outside an employment relationship such as children working on their own account or in the informal economy, benefit from the protection laid down by the Convention. In this regard, the Committee encourages the Government to review the relevant provisions of the Labour Law in order to address these gaps as well as to take measures to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate to the informal economy with a view to ensuring such protection in this sector.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that primary education in Ethiopia was neither free nor compulsory, and that net enrolment remained very low. The Committee also noted that UNICEF statistics indicated that while the net attendance for primary school was 64.3 per cent for boys and 65.5 per cent for girls, it was only 15.7 per cent for boys and 15.6 per cent for girls in secondary school. The Committee urged the Government to take the necessary measures to provide for compulsory education up to the minimum age of admission to employment of 14 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has started the process of drafting legislation which aims at making primary education compulsory. The Committee notes that according to the Child Labour Survey, the school attendance rate is 61.3 per cent among children aged 5–17 years (page xi). Children who are attending school are working about 28 hours per week, while those who are only working for 37.6 hours. Moreover, 2,830,842 children in the 5–17 years age group (7.6 per cent of the total number of children in the country), dropped out of school. The Committee notes that the drop-out rate is higher among working children (10.9 per cent) than non-working children (4.1 per cent). Working boys are more likely to drop out of school than working girls (11.6 per cent versus 9.8 per cent) (pages 86 and 88).

The Committee further notes that, in its 2015 concluding observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was concerned about a certain number of issues, including: (i) the lack of national legislation on free and compulsory education; (ii) the persistent regional disparities in enrolment rates and the high number of school-aged children, particularly girls, who remain out of school; as well as (iii) the high drop-out rates, the significant low enrolment rates in pre-primary education and secondary education (CRC/C/ETH/CO/4-5 paragraph 61). Considering that compulsory education is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to provide for compulsory education up to the minimum age of admission to employment of 14 years. It also requests the Government to intensify its efforts to increase school enrolment rates and decrease drop-out rates at the primary level with a view to preventing children under 14 years of age from being engaged in work.

Article 3. Minimum age for admission to, and determination of hazardous work and application in practice. The Committee previously noted the Decree of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of 2 September 1997 concerning the prohibition of work for young workers which, under section 4(1), contains a detailed list of types of hazardous work and a general prohibition of all other kinds of work likely to jeopardize the young worker’s morals or physical condition/health. The Committee also noted the Government’s indication in its report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that it was revising its hazardous work list.

The Committee observes that, according to the Child Labour Survey, the rate of hazardous work among children aged 5–17 years is 23.3 per cent (28 per cent for boys versus 18.2 per cent of girls) and in urban areas it was 9.2 per cent as compared to 26.4 per cent in rural areas. Moreover, the average hours of work per week performed by children engaged in hazardous work in the age group 5–17 years was 41.4 hours. In addition, 50 per cent of them are working more than 42 hours per week. The youngest children aged 5–11 years are relatively more involved in working long hours than any other age category (53.3 per cent). The Committee also notes that among children engaged in hazardous work, 87.5 per cent work in the agricultural sector, and 66.2 per cent are involved in other hazardous working conditions such as night work, working in an unhealthy environment or using unsafe equipment at work (page xiii).

The Committee notes with deep concern that a significant number of children under 18 years of age are engaged in hazardous work. The Committee therefore urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that, in practice, children under 18 years of age are not engaged in hazardous work in either urban and rural areas. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information in this regard. The Committee further requests the Government to indicate whether a new list of types of hazardous work was adopted and to supply a copy.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 108th Session and to reply in full to the present comments in 2019.]